Concord-Carlisle 34, Bedford 7: Patriots wrap up DCL Small title

Thursday

Nov 24, 2011 at 12:01 AMNov 24, 2011 at 2:40 PM

The Patriots’ work in the first three quarters allowed them to wrap up their third straight undefeated Dual County League Small championship season with a 34-7 victory over the Buccaneers at Memorial Field.

Stephen Tobey

After 11 straight scoreless quarters, the Concord-Carlisle football team’s shutout streak came to an end with 3:29 left in the fourth quarter of the annual Thanksgiving Day game when Bedford quarterback Christian Boivin scored on an 11-yard keeper.

The Patriots’ work in the first three quarters allowed them to wrap up their third straight undefeated Dual County League Small championship season with a 34-7 victory over the Buccaneers at Memorial Field.

“I’m so happy for the seniors,” said C-C coach Mike Robichaud. “They came in as sophomores and had not lost to a league opponent. They take a lot of pride in that.”

Concord-Carlisle takes an 11-0 overall record (4-0 league) into the MIAA Division 3 East playoffs on Tuesday, facing the Tri-Valley League Large champions. The MIAA will announce the playoff time and location on Friday.

This is the Patriots’ first undefeated regular season since 1978, when they won their last Super Bowl against Shawsheen Tech.

Bedford (6-4, 3-1) had some success moving the ball in the first half, getting it to the Patriots’ 45 on the game’s opening series. The drive ended when Tyler Koning picked off a pass from Boivin and returned it 13 yards to C-C 43.

Eight plays later, Tim Badgley (11 carries, 94 yards) scored his first of two touchdowns on an 8—yard run.

The Patriots added two more touchdowns before halftime. On the first pass Ryan Hoey threw, he connected with Evan Boynton for a 9-yard touchdown with five minutes left in the second quarter. George Craan (16 carries, 123 yards) set up the touchdown with a 62-yard gain to the Bedford 11.

Linebacker Tom Kleyn set up C-C’s next touchdown with a fumble recovery at the Bedford 49. On the next play, Tyquan Culbreath scored on a 49-yard reverse with 2:54 left in the half.

Kleyn also had an interception in the second quarter.

“We had a list of five things we needed to do,” said Bedford coach Jack Belcher. “One of them was to have two net turnovers in the first half in our favor. In the first half, we were minus-three.”

On the opening series of the second half, Badgley scored on a 23-yard run through the middle of the line.

Hoey (5-for-7, 46 yards) threw his second touchdown pass of the day with 6:45 left in the fourth quarter, finding Henry Bumpus in the right corner of the end zone.

The Buccaneers threatened at the end of the first half, driving to the C-C 25 before time expired. Boivin completed passes of 23 and 25 yards to Brian Ricci.

“Bedford tried a lot of new stuff,” said Bumpus, who also plays defensive end. “They came out in different packages and we bent a little.”

Bedford’s scoring drive began at its own 32 following Bumpus’ touchdown. Boivin gained 17 yards on a keeper on third-and-10 to move the ball to the C-C 37. On the play before his touchdown run, he connected with Justin McAfee for a 23-yard pass.

Olan Abner blocked an extra point for Bedford.

“We had 13 seniors,” Belcher said. “They’re great, high-character kids. They’ve been with us since the seventh grade in our middle school program. Probably nobody outside our locker room thought we’d be playing for a league title today.”